


Behind Closed Doors

by ebonyfeather



Category: Primeval
Genre: Incest (Danny/Ethan), M/M, Multi, Threesome - M/M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2011-08-17
Updated: 2011-08-17
Packaged: 2017-10-22 18:11:30
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 10,590
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/241036
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ebonyfeather/pseuds/ebonyfeather
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Post 4.07, Danny brings Ethan back through the anomaly but something has changed in the time they've been away, and Becker is presented with an unexpected offer.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Behind Closed Doors

**Author's Note:**

> Can be read as a standalone or a Sequel/Companion to [Bad Place Alone](http://archiveofourown.org/works/240993/chapters/370639).

Behind closed doors

 

 

 

The team waited as the anomaly shimmered; something was coming through. Becker’s men raised their weapons, ready to shoot whatever it was.

 

“Hold fire!”

 

Becker watched as Danny Quinn stepped through the anomaly, looking almost the same as he had the last time Becker had seen him over a half a year earlier. He was still wearing that ragged red and white checked shirt, his hair long and tangled and tied at the nape of his neck with a rubber band that he had taken from the ARC the last time he’d been here. He was relieved to see him back again; he’d missed Danny, that brief reunion six months ago not nearly long enough for all he wanted to say and do. He was just about to move forward, to welcome him home, when the anomaly shimmered again.

 

The guns were trained back on Danny when Ethan Dobrowski stepped through after him.

 

“No! Becker, leave him alone,” Danny said, immediately putting himself between the guns and Ethan.

 

The men looked to Becker, unsure of what to do. They had a shoot on sight order for Ethan if he ever turned up again, but if they tried, they’d probably hit Danny.

 

“Danny, get out of the way,” Becker told him. “You know we have to take him in.”

 

Danny shook his head. “I won’t let you arrest him. He’ll go voluntarily, I promise you that.”

 

Ethan touched Danny’s shoulder, making the other man turn. “Can’t we just go home?”

 

“No. I wish we could, but we need to report in at the ARC. They’re going to want to talk to you, too.”

 

Becker watched the exchange between the two men and lowered his gun once more. The Ethan who had gone through that Anomaly wouldn’t have though twice about attacking them and running, but this Ethan was different. That look in his eyes that had been present when he’d shot Becker with the EMD, and even before that, was gone. What the hell had happened to them over the last six months?

 

True to his word, Ethan followed him to the vehicles and got in beside Danny, behaving perfectly. The only time he got upset was when they tried to take him into custody after interviewing him. They couldn’t exactly hand him over to the police and risk exposing every detail of the project and the anomalies, and Ethan himself presented an even bigger problem. Ethan Dobrowski didn’t legally exist and, as Patrick, he had been missing long enough to be declared dead. Explaining Ethan to the police would be impossible.

 

“I won’t let you keep him locked up here,” Danny informed them, arms crossed and a stubborn look on his face. “He’s coming with me; he’s not a danger to anyone.”

 

Lester looked unconvinced but seeing as it looked like he wouldn’t be able to keep Ethan here without a fight he agreed reluctantly. Becker drove them to the flat that the ARC kept, where they could stay until they found something else. At the door, he took Danny aside.

 

“Do you really think he’s not dangerous?”

 

“I trust him when he says he isn’t.”

 

Becker looked over at Ethan, hovering close by and pretending not to listen, and nodded. He’d take Danny’s word for it.

 

He was just closing the door behind him when he happened to glance back. Ethan had gravitated back to Danny’s side, a low conversation taking place between the two of them. When it looked as though Ethan was getting upset again, Danny smiled at him, touching the side of his face. Ethan leaned into the touch, his anger fading rapidly.

 

Becker closed the door quickly and quietly, feeling guilty for seeing what had looked like such an intimate gesture. It had looked like a touch that a lover would use, one Danny had used on him once or twice what seemed like an age ago.

 

Shaking his head he told himself to stop imagining things. Ethan was Patrick; it was just brotherly reassurance.

 

\-----------

 

Danny’s thumb stroked over Ethan’s cheek, feeling the rough stubble there. His hair was long, too, from months spent living in a world without showers and razors, or barbers.

 

“You know what I want to do first?” he said. “Have a shower. Not that waterfalls don’t get the job done, but I’ve been dreaming of a nice hot shower, with actual soap. And nice fluffy towels.” Ethan looked up at him hopefully and Danny laughed. “Want to join me?”

 

Ethan beamed at him, tugging off his jacket as he headed for the bathroom. He carefully piled his clothes nearby in a pile with Danny’s, an old habit that was hard to break: always keep your things where you can get to them quickly should you have to make a run for it.

 

Stepping under the shower’s spray, Danny sighed happily. He’d forgotten just how good it felt to be able to wash in warm water. As he let the water cascade over his skin, Danny felt strong hands stroke down his arms. Ethan’s body pressed to his back as he pressed a kiss to Danny’s shoulder.

 

“Thank you.”

 

“For what?”

 

“For not letting them take me. What you said, about me not hurting anyone,” Ethan continued. “I won’t. Not for them, though. For you.”

 

Danny groaned as gentle fingers began to wash his hair, closing his eyes and just feeling. Ethan made him rinse off the suds before soapy hands began working their way over every inch of his body. He smiled as Ethan began to tread the fine line between washing and groping- not that he objected to the latter in the slightest- before returning the action. He loved the feel of Ethan’s body under his hands, the muscle built up over years of survival, the scars that marred his skin a testament to his time in the past. The other man was so responsive, his touches making Ethan’s eyes darken, a smile curving his lips.

 

He ran his hands down Ethan’s back, lower, giving his arse a grope, before giving in to temptation and coming back around his hips. When he wrapped a soap-slicked hand around Ethan’s cock, the other man pushed into his grip.

 

“Turn around,” Danny said, releasing him. “Hands on the wall.”

 

Ethan did as asked, placing his palms flat on the cool tiles and pushing back into Danny’s hands as they swept over his arse once more. Danny trailed his fingertip over Ethan’s hole, gently easing one sud-covered finger inside, working it slowly in and out.

 

“Are you ready for more?” he asked, not waiting for Ethan’s answer before slipping a second finger in alongside the first, then a third.

 

Ethan pushed back against him, encouraging him to go deeper as low sounds escaped his mouth. Then Danny’s fingers were gone, replaced by his cock pushing inside.

 

“Danny, please. Do it. Need you.”

 

Danny obliged, fucking his brother hard and fast as the warm water cascaded over them.

 

\--------------

 

In the week that followed, Becker watched them. He still couldn’t get the scene from that first night out of his mind; he knew what he’d seen, even if his brain rebelled against believing it. Now that he was looking for it, however, he saw all of the small gestures and shared looks that would go unnoticed by anyone who didn’t know what they were looking for. If he was being honest, he was actually a bit envious; he had harboured a vague hope that they could pick up where they had been a year and a half ago, but it seemed that Danny had moved on.

 

For the second time that day, Danny glanced up and caught Becker’s eye. Becker looked away quickly but he knew that he had been caught out when Danny approached him, nodding his head in the direction of an empty office.

 

Danny closed the door behind them, leaning against it as he turned to Becker.

 

“What’s wrong?”

 

Becker kept his expression neutral. “I don’t know what you mean.”

 

“Sure you don’t. I’ve seen you watching us all morning, even before today,” Danny told him. “I told you, Ethan isn’t going to be a problem.”

 

“I know. I took your word that he wouldn’t.”

 

Danny frowned. “Then what is it?”

 

Glancing longingly at the door, Becker wished for an anomaly alert. None came, however.

 

“The other night, as I was leaving,” he began eventually. “I saw you. I thought I was mistaken but then seeing the two of you together...”

 

Danny shook his head. “Leave it, Becker.”

 

“I don’t understand-”

 

“I’m not asking you to understand,” Danny cut in. “I’m just asking you to leave it alone.”

 

As Danny opened the door to leave, Becker reached out, pushing it closed again.

 

“Quinn, I’m not judging, nor am I about to march out there and tell the others so we can run you two out of the ARC,” he said. “To be honest, I’m curious. I’m even a bit jealous; I missed you. I just want to understand. And I think that you might need someone you can talk to.”

 

Danny sighed. “Maybe. But not now and not here.” Becker nodded, not pressing the issue, and let Danny open the door. Just before he went back out, he smiled briefly at Becker. “I missed you too.”

 

As soon as he was back outside, Ethan appeared at his side, casting curious looks at Becker. He eyed the former soldier in that quiet, assessing way as though trying to work out if he’d upset Danny in any way, deciding if he needed to fight back. Danny touched his arm briefly to get his attention.

 

“It’s okay. We needed to have a chat, that’s all.”

 

He started to steer Ethan toward the staff room, pausing when the black-clad man with an EMD followed. Lester had informed him that Ethan would be under armed guard every minute that he was in the ARC, despite their protests, which meant that where Ethan went, his shadow followed. His brother couldn’t even go to the bathroom without someone standing guard and it was getting on his nerves. He had no idea how Ethan was tolerating it; if it had been him he would have told the guard where to stuff his EMD before now. He was just about to tell the man to piss off when Becker stepped up.

 

“John, I’ll take over from here if you like.” The guard looked dubious at contradicting a direct order from Lester but Becker was his superior too. If he said it was alright then it must me.

 

Nodding, he backed away, passing his EMD to Becker. As soon as he was out of sight, Becker disarmed the thing and stuffed it into his jacket pocket.

 

“I thought you might want a break from having an armed escort.”

 

“So you’re going not going to follow me around either?”

 

But he couldn’t do that. He still had to stay with them, but he could be a whole lot less obtrusive than the former guard had been.

 

“Becker? Can we get out of here?” Danny asked, seeing another of the techs veer around Ethan with fear in her eyes. “If there’s an alert we can come back.”

 

\------------

 

In the flat, Becker could see them both relax. Ethan had been constantly glaring at everyone who looked at him strangely back at the ARC, the tension clear in him, but now he looked calmer. Danny hadn’t been quite as bad, but Becker had seen his annoyance at the armed guard and at people’s reactions to his brother.

 

“So, you wanted to know about us,” Danny began, handing out mugs of tea and sitting down beside Ethan.

 

Becker nodded. “Like I said, I’m not going to judge you, I just can’t get my head around it. I mean, he’s your brother. He’s Patrick.”

 

“No, he’s not. The Patrick that I knew died a long time ago,” Danny told him. “We’ve still got the connection we always had but it’s different. We didn’t plan any of this, but in that place everything changed. We changed.”

 

\------------

 

 _67 million years ago_.

 

By the time that he caught up with his brother, the anomaly had closed. He was trapped here, again, only this time he wasn’t alone. It took him three days to track Patrick down, only managing to catch up with him because he’d been injured by some of the local wildlife.

 

When Danny had tried to help him, he’d been pushed away, but he had persevered. He managed to get Patrick into a nearby cave that he’d already checked for creatures, getting him into safety and then making sure the wound on his thigh wasn’t infected. It would be fine given time, he thought as he used his belt to fasten a makeshift dressing around it.

 

Patrick was another matter.

 

“I didn’t ask you to follow me,” he said. It was the first thing he’d said since telling Danny he didn’t want his help the day before. “Just leave me; I don’t want to go back.”

 

“I can’t go, and neither can you,” Danny informed him. “The anomaly closed just after I came through. I’m stuck here just like you, Patrick.”

 

“Don’t call me that. My name is Ethan.”

 

And with that, he went back to ignoring Danny.

 

His leg healed, making it easier for him to get around even if there wasn’t anywhere to go, and to Danny’s surprise he actually stayed close. He would wander away for a day or so before coming back. He always came back.

 

“Where were you?” he asked one evening, the light from the fire at the cave entrance casting a flickering orange glow over them both. “I heard them say you’d been missing.”

 

Danny told him about their chase through time to stop Helen Cutter from wiping mankind from the evolutionary map, about his time in the past, alone. For the first time, he actually saw sympathy in his brother’s eyes, an understanding. Of course, one year was no comparison to fourteen.

 

As the temperature dropped, Danny threw more wood onto the fire before curling up at the back of the cave to try and sleep. He pulled his shirt around himself, wishing he had thought to bring supplies before jumping through the anomaly. He felt something being draped over him and looked over in surprise to see Patrick- no, Ethan- lay down silently next to him, covering them both with his coat.

 

Weeks passed, every day a repeat of the one previous: wake up, rebuild the fire, hunt for food, sleep. It had been the same for 43 days; Danny had been keeping a tally on the wall of the cave. They kept a close watch for any signs of anomalies re-opening or predators, but none of them came near the fire if they had seen the two men. Ethan had taken to curling up close to Danny, both of them under the coat for warmth, never saying a word, just covering them both.

 

Then one morning, Danny awoke on his back, Ethan’s body draped over his with the other man’s arms around him. His face was nestled into the crook of Danny’s neck and one knee in between Danny’s. He stirred slightly in his sleep, arms tightening as he pressed his hips forward. A jolt of want and need shot through Danny’s body at the feel of that hard cock brushed against his, the denim barriers separating them only adding to the friction.

 

He’s just dreaming, Danny told himself. Just move away and he’ll stop soon. But he couldn’t bring himself to do it. He didn’t want to, and that was the thought that made him get up quickly.

 

“Danny?”

 

When he looked back at his brother the only thing he could think of was how good it had felt having that body against his. He was going crazy here; he had needs like every other person on the planet, and he was just focusing on Ethan because he was the only other person here.

 

That explanation made his thoughts calm down a bit, enough that he went back to bed, careful to keep a distance between them this time.

 

“Why won’t you touch me?” Ethan asked a couple of days later as Danny edged away from him once more. “Do I really disgust you that much?”  

 

“No, you don’t. It’s not that,” Danny assured him, making sure that the next night, he didn’t push Ethan away.

 

He had ceased to be Patrick in his mind some time ago; the kid he’d known was long gone, barely recognisable in the man he saw now. So much had changed in him that he was almost like a stranger if not for the bond he still felt. It was the same one he’d felt when they were kids, a link between them that couldn’t be broken, the same thing that had kept him believing that his brother was alive all those years after everyone else had given up.

 

The next time that he awoke with Ethan wrapped around him, Danny didn’t push him away. He wouldn’t risk losing his brother again, not after the progress they’d made recently. And he didn’t want to; as much as he told himself that he shouldn’t, he liked the feel of Ethan in his arms, of that strong body pressed against his.

 

_‘Danny.’_

 

It was the barest whisper but he heard it loud and clear, the sound his name coming from Ethan’s lips as he pressed closer going straight to Danny’s cock. He had to wake Ethan before this got out of hand.

 

He shook Ethan gently, stirring him, but he wasn’t prepared for those big brown eyes looking right into his, a smile quirking Ethan’s lips moments before he kissed him. At first, Danny was too stunned to do anything but kiss him back but then his brain kicked in and he pulled away.

 

“No. We can’t.”

 

Ethan just looked at him. “Why?”

 

“Because it’s illegal, for starters.”

 

“Why? I know you want me, Danny,” he said, reaching a hand between them to palm Danny’s erection through his jeans. “I want you too; I dream about you every night. I’ll do whatever you want.”

 

Those words stopped Danny. What kind of life had Ethan been living where his first method of persuasion was to offer himself as some kind of plaything?

 

“I won’t use you like that,” Danny told him. “Even if we could do this, which we can’t. You’re my baby brother.”

 

Ethan got to his feet. “So you don’t want me? You’re lying to yourself,” he said, storming out of the cave without a backward glance.

 

He didn’t come back for three days. Danny caught sight of him once or twice as he went out looking for him but the moment he got close, the other man had vanished again. In defeat, Danny returned to the cave each night, hoping that Ethan would come back on his own.

 

‘ _You’re lying to yourself._ ’ Those words echoed through his mind. He was. No matter what he’d said, he had wanted to let Ethan continue. This wasn’t some desperate attempt at getting laid just because they were stranded here and Ethan was the only other person; he wanted Ethan. The last time he’d seen him he was a skinny kid but now… He’d grown up into an attractive man, one who seemed so unlike the kid he’d left behind. And, if he was being perfectly honest, the kind of bloke he always looked for if he was out in a bar.

 

“Idiot,” he told himself. He was stuck in the past with the person he wanted to be with and he was still letting twenty first century society’s rules and taboos dictate to him. Now, he might possibly have driven Ethan away for good by rejecting him. “You’re a moron, Quinn.”

 

“Glad to know we agree on that.”

 

Danny turned to see Ethan standing in the cave entrance, still looking hurt but at least he didn’t look like he wanted to strangle Danny any more.

 

“I’m sorry; you were right.”

 

Ethan frowned at him. “So…?”

 

“I did want you. I still do,” Danny told him. “But no more of that ‘I’ll do whatever you want’. This has to be equal. You and me.”

 

“Just like when we were kids; you and me against the world,” Ethan agreed.

 

The moment he said it, the little niggling voice in the back of his mind started up again but he ignored it, accepting the kiss that Ethan offered. This time, he didn’t pull away when Ethan’s arms slipped around his waist, drawing him in closer.

 

It went no further than that kiss on the first night, both of them laying together in the back of the cave, trying to get some sleep. Ethan curled himself around Danny as usual, settling almost instantly.

 

The following morning, Danny awoke to the feel of a hot mouth on the side of his neck and a hand unbuckling his trousers. Keeping his eyes closed, he pretended to still be asleep, wondering how far Ethan would take this. The hand reached inside his boxers and wrapped around his cock, stroking along his length in one smooth move. He felt warm breath on his cheek, then a teasing voice.

 

“I know you’re awake.”

 

Danny opened his eyes and found Ethan’s face inches from his, the other man watching him with an amused expression. His breath caught as Ethan continued to stroke him, enough to make him want more but not as much as he’d like. Then the hand was gone. Ethan kept eye contact as he backed off, sitting straddling Danny’s ankles.

 

“This is how I was going to wake you up,” Ethan announced before bending to take Danny’s cock into his mouth.

 

“Oh fuck…”

 

That was quite a way to be woken up, Danny thought, eyes closing as he savoured the feel of that talented mouth on him. He felt a brief flash of jealousy as he wondered where on earth his brother had got to be so damn good at it, but he squashed it down. It didn’t matter; Ethan was his now.

 

Ethan used his tongue and mouth to drive Danny crazy, pulling back each time Danny was close and then swallowing him down again. Eventually he stopped teasing, giving Danny what he wanted, his hands on Danny’s hips, holding him in place as Danny came.

 

Sitting back up, licking his lips, Ethan tucked Danny back into his jeans and crawled back up his body to sit beside him.

 

“I found something yesterday,” he said. “Get up and I’ll show you.”

 

Danny just looked at him; he couldn’t even be bothered to move, not after that, and Ethan wanted to take him somewhere? He was just too content here. Then he saw the excited look on his brother’s face and dragged himself up into a sitting position.

 

Danny followed him out of the cave ten minutes later, wondering where they were going. Ethan wouldn’t tell him, saying it was a surprise and just leading him on over a seemingly endless distance. It was getting hot now, the mid day sun right overhead and Danny was just about to ask where they were going again when he heard it. He rounded the rock face to find a find a high waterfall spilling into a clear pool down below.

 

“I thought you might like this,” he said smiling. “There are no predators; they don’t climb around the rocks, just drink from it when it gets downstream instead.”

 

It would have made a lovely picture postcard, Danny thought, looking around. The waterfall and pool were almost completely surrounded by rocky cliffs, fairly easy for a human to navigate but anything larger and less sure-footed would have trouble. When he looked more closely, he saw fish swimming about in the pool. Now that would be nice; fish for dinner one night rather than flame-cooked rodent.

 

When he looked around next, Ethan was gone. There was a pile of clothes near to the edge of the water. Danny almost forgot to breathe when he saw Ethan standing under the edge of the waterfall, using the cascade like a shower. He swept his dark hair back, eyes closed. Every time he reached up, the muscles in his back flexed. Danny couldn’t tear his gaze away. He hadn’t seen Ethan completely naked before; they had been going to the stream to wash but usually one at a time, one keeping lookout. The man was captivating: pale skin, lean body and _damn_ he had a nice arse. When he turned a little more, Danny saw the smattering of dark hair across his chest and let his eyes rove lower, over Ethan’s flat belly to his cock, nestled among the dark curls.

 

“Are you coming in? Danny?”

 

Danny’s attention focussed at the sound of his name and he caught sight of the smug smirk on Ethan’s face. Busted. Well, it wasn’t his fault that Ethan was just so distracting, he thought, feeling a blush rising across his cheeks.

 

Stripping off, he piled his clothes next to Ethan’s, close to the edge in case they were needed, and went to join him.

 

“I can’t believe we didn’t find this place earlier,” Danny mused, letting the water wash over him.

 

They had been trying to stay near to the anomaly site, just in case it re-opened and hadn’t really ventured far this way at all. From near to the cave, all they could see in this direction was cliffs and hills; it didn’t appear very accessible.

 

“What made you come looking for this?” he asked.

 

Ethan looked rather sheepish as he admitted, “I was pissed at you so I started walking. I wasn’t looking for it; this just seemed as good a direction as any.”

 

Danny pulled him into his arms, kissing him softly. Though he never said it, he knew that Ethan had intended to just keep walking, to get away from him. He was glad for whatever had made him change his mind.

 

After getting clean under the water, they went back to the flat rocks where they had left their clothes and stretched out in the sun, letting it dry their skin. As the warm rays beat down on them, Ethan shifted to look at Danny.

 

“Did you have a boyfriend?” he asked. “Before you got stuck through the gateway.”

 

Ah, it had to be that question, didn’t it? Danny thought about lying for a moment, but reconsidered. Ethan would just be mad when he found out.

 

“Kind of. Me and Becker… it was started as the two of us using sex as stress-relief,” he explained. “We’re mates who happened to end up in bed on a regular basis. Thinking back, it was probably closer to a relationship than I’d managed before. Not that we ever called it that at the time.”

 

He could see Ethan thinking. “Becker? He’s the bloke in black with the gun?” Danny nodded. “You and him? But he was such a dick!”

 

Danny shook his head. “He’s a good bloke. I reckon the two of you would get along; you’re more similar than you think.”

 

“Yeah, right.”

 

“See, this is why I never told you before,” Danny pointed out. “It’s not like I didn’t have a life before all this. I don’t expect you to have lived like a monk, either.”

 

“Well how am I meant to compete with him?” Ethan asked. “I mean, I saw him- Mr pretty-boy, with his posh accent and poncy hair and his stupid little tight t-shirts.”

 

Danny smiled, thinking that Ethan looked damn cute when he pouted. “There’s nothing to compete with; I haven’t even see Becker for longer than five minutes in over a year. And besides, have you looked in a mirror lately? Believe me, there’s no competition.”

 

Ethan looked at him suspiciously. “So if he offered it, you wouldn’t want him back again?”

 

“Well, maybe if I could have both of you…” He laughed at the flash of interest in Ethan’s eyes at that thought. “You’re telling me that you wouldn’t?”

 

“No- okay, fine, he is kind of nice to look at,” Ethan admitted. “And if he was naked and waiting in my bed, then yes.” He stretched, now dry from the warm sun, and moved to straddle Danny’s hips. “Now, tell me what you liked him to do to you.”

 

Danny propped himself up on his elbows, leaning up to lick a line up Ethan’s chest.

 

“You’re a kinky little sod, aren’t you?”

 

Ethan just grinned.

 

\---------------

 

Becker stared at the pair of them as Danny talked. He wasn’t sure what to think, apart from a deep-down curiosity that had him picturing the pair of them together. As soon as he acknowledged that thought he looked away quickly, avoiding eye contact with either of them.

 

“I can see that you’re uncomfortable with this,” Danny told him, his voice interrupting Becker’s train of thought.

 

“I’m not,” he insisted.

 

Ethan was studying him quietly in a way that made Becker feel like a mouse being watched by a hungry cat. Then he smiled and leaned closer to Danny to whisper, not quietly enough that Becker wouldn’t hear it, though.

 

“I don’t think me and you is the reason he’s looking nervous. He’s fine with it. In fact, I reckon he’s trying to picture us fucking.”

 

Becker just knew his face was turning red even as he tried to will himself to stop blushing. He glared at Ethan; he should have shot him when he had the chance. The other man was just trying to embarrass him, even if he was correct he didn’t have to point it out.

 

Danny turned to him with that same assessing look. “I reckon you’re right. Well, well, well, who knew that Becker had a thing for brothers?”

 

Becker repeated his prayer for the floor to open up beneath his feet with renewed urgency. Now that the thought was in his head he couldn’t get rid of it and they both knew it.

 

“Maybe I should go,” he said, getting up, but Ethan stopped him.

 

Becker looked down at the hand on his arm suspiciously; he’d had too many run-ins with the old Ethan not to be worried.

 

“Sorry; I shouldn’t have teased you. We don’t want you to leave,” Danny told him, coming to stand beside Ethan, blocking Becker’s path to the door. The two of them shared a look. “Quite the opposite in fact.”

 

“What?”

 

Danny smiled. “Don’t play stupid, Hils,” he said, seeing Becker react to the old nickname they’d only ever used in private. “I think you know exactly what I mean.”

 

Becker looked between them. “What exactly are you offering?” he asked. He needed to be sure before he even allowed himself to consider it.

 

“Whatever you want,” Ethan replied. “You can just watch if that’s what you want, or you can join us.”

 

He was still waiting for the punchline. “Why? If you’re just screwing with me-”

 

“We’re not. Look, Ethan knows all about us from before I left, just as you and I both know that no matter what we told ourselves back then it was a lot more than just fuck-buddies,” Danny told him. “To be honest, I miss the way it was before. I want that again, but now it’s the two of us.”

 

Ethan smiled sadly. “You don’t like me, do you? Look, I’m sorry that I shot you; you tried to stop me and I panicked. I couldn’t let you get a hold of me and throw me in a prison cell. You have to believe me that I’m not going to do anything like that again.”

 

“And you’re okay with what your brother is offering?”

 

“So that’s what’s bothering you. You think he pushed me into this?” Ethan moved closer, reaching up slowly to cup Becker’s face with his hands before kissing him. For a moment, Becker didn’t react and Ethan wondered if they really had got this all wrong. Then he relaxed under Ethan’s hands, the tension vanishing as his lips parted, kissing Ethan back for all he was worth.

 

“Does that answer your question?” Ethan asked when he pulled away a short time later.

 

Danny stepped up to them both, laying a hand on Becker’s arm to get his attention.

 

“Look, Hils, I know you don’t do casual. Even when we told ourselves we were just playing, I know you never saw anyone else. If you want it, we’re offering you it all.”

 

Becker was still trying to wrap his mind around it, still trying to get over the fact that despite all the shit that Ethan had done, he wanted him. He should be arresting him but instead he just wanted to run his fingers through that dark curly hair, pull him close, and kiss him again.

 

“I need therapy,” he mumbled to himself.

 

Danny laughed. “I just spent nearly a year and a half a few million years in the past, we chase dinosaurs for a living, and I’m sleeping with my brother,” he pointed out. “We all need therapy.”

 

Becker had to concede that when he put it like that, Danny was right. Compared to him, Becker was the normal one.

 

“Yes.”

 

\-----------------

 

Adjusting to their new arrangement took a little more getting used to. Danny and Ethan were comfortable around each other, as were Becker and Danny, but Becker and Ethan had never spent any time together without either trying to kill each other, Becker trying to arrest him, or with Danny present. Most of what they had spent together was in bed or at work.

 

Danny had returned to work at the ARC, taking Ethan along with him. Not everyone was happy about that, but they could accept that the years he had spent in the past gave him valuable knowledge that they could utilise. And they still thought he was under guard, not that Becker was ever armed, or even watching him too closely. Ethan rarely left Becker or Danny’s side, anyway.

 

He and Danny had also moved into Becker’s house, the official line being that Becker had the room and he could also keep an eye on Ethan. Connor had immediately assumed that Danny and Becker had gone back to sharing a bed, and that Ethan had Becker’s spare bedroom. It seemed that everyone had known that they were sleeping together; Becker had honestly thought it was a secret.

 

So, he let them assume. He didn’t correct them, nor did he confirm anything; the rumour mill would keep the others from working out the truth, and prevent Danny and Ethan facing the backlash should everyone find out about their relationship.

 

They had a weekend off from the ARC, none of them even being on call, five days after Becker had spent that first night in the brothers’ bed. Danny finished his breakfast and put his coat on.

 

“Right, I’m going out.”

 

Becker and Ethan both immediately got up too, to go with him, but he stopped them.

 

“No, I’m going out, you two are staying here,” he told them. “You need a bit of time alone.”

 

Becker frowned. “But we’re fine, aren’t we?”

 

“Have I done something wrong?” Ethan asked, looking worried.

 

Danny picked up his wallet and tucked it into his pocket before going back to his boys.

 

“No, no one has done anything wrong. You two have never had the chance to get to know each other without me here. Talk, fuck, whatever,” he told them. “I’m meeting an old friend for lunch. I’ll be back this afternoon.”

 

When the door closed behind him, Becker and Ethan just looked at each other. There was a long silence and only then, when he couldn’t think of a single thing to say, did Becker realise that Danny was right.

 

“Maybe we could go for lunch somewhere,” he suggested.

 

“You mean like a date?”

 

Becker sighed. “It’s okay, it was a stupid idea.” 

 

“No! I want to do it.” Ethan paused, not meeting Becker’s eyes. “I’ve never been on a date before.”

 

\-------------

 

Two hours later, they sat at a table on the patio of the café in the town centre. The waitress had just cleared away their plates, leaving them to talk once more. Becker shared stories about his time in the military and then at the ARC, answering Ethan’s questions about his family. Ethan had told him stories about the mischief he and Danny had got up to as kids, although he always steered clear of that day in the old house. The memory of how he had ended up stranded in the past as a teenager still haunted him, as did the thought of the friend he’d lost on that same day. Becker didn’t push him on the subject, just let him tell the story at his own pace.

 

As he began to talk about how he’d lived through the anomalies at that early age, Becker found himself surprised that Ethan wasn’t more fucked up than he already was. He spoke of hunting things for food, of avoiding predators and learning to defend himself, with such detachment that Becker reached over the table to cover Ethan’s hand with his own. He talked of killing creatures for food as though they were everyday things for any kid to do.

 

There was no wonder that he hadn’t thought twice about simply hurting anyone who got in his way, who tried to stop him the last time he was here. After all, he’d grown up doing just that.

 

“How long were you on your own for?” Becker asked.

 

Ethan shrugged his shoulders. “Few years. Then the others found me,” he said. “There was this man, Kristof, and he sort of took me in. He gave me clothes and showed me how to make better weapons.”

 

“He sounds like good bloke.”

 

“I suppose. He let me stay with him for a couple of years, looked after me,” Ethan told him. “He had me sleep in his tent at night, said it was how I could repay him for helping me.”

 

Becker frowned. “He made you have sex with him as payment? If that was only a few years after you got there you were what- Sixteen? Seventeen? If I could get my hands on the bastard!”

 

“He’s dead,” Ethan said. “Kristof liked to hurt me as he fucked me, liked to see how far he could push me before I broke. One night he had this blade…” He paused, looking down at his cup, the tea inside forgotten and cooled. “He cut me; I didn’t think he’d stop and so fought back. I took it from him and stuck it in his gut. Charlotte hadn’t been with us long at that point. She said seen what he’d done to me before, but she was scared that he’d hurt her if she interfered. She fixed me up. Didn’t ask for anything in return, just helped me.”

 

Discretion be damned, Becker thought as he took hold of Ethan’s hand properly, bringing it up to his lips to press a kiss to the palm.

 

“If I could go back and prevent it, I would,” he said. “No one should have to go through all that.”

 

Ethan looked at Becker’s fingers still clasping his hand and smiled. It was the first time that Becker had shown affection for him in public, always too afraid that one of their colleagues would see them. Just as he and Danny never made any overtly affectionate gestures whilst they were outside of the house.

 

“I think that Danny was right about us needing to get to know each other,” Becker said as they strolled back to his house. “Not that we’re going to tell him that, though.”

 

“Of course not; we’d never hear the end of it if he was right about something.” Ethan paused, then asked, “Becks, why does Danny call you Hils?”

 

Becker was surprised that Danny hadn’t told him, given that they shared everything else. He did know how much Becker hated that name, however.

 

“Because it’s my name: Hilary Becker. He found out one day and when I told him never to call me that again, he started to shorten it to Hils instead.”

 

He sat back and waited for Ethan to laugh, or at least make a joke about it, but nothing came. Instead Ethan was watching him thoughtfully.

 

“Do you think I could call you that, too?”

 

Becker smiled. “I’d like that.”

 

Hils didn’t bother him nearly as much as Hilary; he rather liked Danny using that name. That didn’t mean that he’d tell it to anyone else, though, as it would mean explaining where the nickname had come from. Quite why his mother chose to call him that he had no idea but he’d often wondered if she had been hoping for a girl and had the name already picked out. Even so, why name your kid something that’s going to earn them endless amounts of teasing? Goodness knew he’d suffered enough of that at school, and even when he joined the military.

 

“So, what do you want to do now?” he asked as they left the cafe. “We could go see a film, or have a walk through the park seeing as it’s a nice day.”

 

Ethan thought about it for a moment before reaching a decision. “The park,” he said.

 

Becker looked around at the other people enjoying the nice weather: families with kids running about, people walking their dogs, a young couple having a picnic. He watched them longingly as the young man leaned over to give his girlfriend a kiss, out in the open where anyone could see them. He barely showed any indication of his involvement with Danny in public, let alone Ethan, for worrying about other people’s reactions. Would it really be so bad if his colleagues knew about his relationship with Ethan? He wondered which part they would have the most problems with, the fact that Ethan was a killer, or that he was sleeping with both Danny and Ethan, or that Danny and Ethan were sleeping with each other. He had no idea but what he did know was that he felt bad for hiding his affection toward the man next to him.

 

Impulsively, he reached out and took Ethan’s hand, pulling him to a stop. It wasn’t as big a gesture as it could have been given that they had reached a relatively secluded area of the park, but it was a start.

 

“What’s wrong?”

 

Becker smiled at him. “Nothing. I just wanted to do this,” he said, sliding his arm around the other man’s waist as he kissed him on the lips.

 

\--------------

 

By the time Danny got home at five thirty, Becker and Ethan were slouched on the sofa together watching a film. Becker’s feet were propped on the coffee table, Ethan leaning against Becker’s body with his legs over the end of the sofa.

 

“ _Die Hard_ , Hils?” Danny asked, recognising it instantly. “How many times have you watched that? You can probably remember the script word for word.”

 

Becker didn’t bother to move. “It’s a classic, and Ethan hadn’t seen it before.”

 

“It’s pretty good,” Ethan chipped in, stretching up to look at Danny over the back of the sofa. “Do you want to join us?”

 

Before he could sit down, however, Becker nudged an empty bowl on the coffee table with his toe.

 

“I don’t suppose you could get us the rest of the popcorn before you sit down, could you?”

 

Danny sighed. “And you couldn’t get it yourself, why exactly?”

 

“We’re comfy,” Becker pointed out, looking up at him. “Please?”

 

Ethan looked up too. “Pretty please?”

 

Two sets of begging brown eyes stared at him and Danny knew he didn’t stand a chance. Grumbling, he refilled the bowl before lifting Ethan’s feet out of the way and sitting down, putting the other man’s legs over his lap instead.

 

“So, did you two have a good day?” Danny asked. “Please don’t tell me you just sat around here watching stupid films.”

 

Becker glared. “It’s not a stupid film.”

 

“Yeah,” Ethan agreed, still watching the film. “Bruce Willis is cool.”

 

Great; he left them alone for one day and already Becker had corrupted him with his obsession for Bruce Willis films. Danny could see the change in them, even after a day. Before this, they wouldn’t have just sat around like this, cuddled up together. When it came to sex and to the attraction between them they had no problem but out of bed they didn’t really know each other. Goodness knew what they’d talked about but whatever it was, he was glad.

 

“Actually, Hils took me on a date. We had a nice lunch, and then we walked back through the park,” Ethan told him, smiling as Bruce took out another bad guy on screen.

 

Danny’s eyebrows shot up in surprise at Ethan’s use of ‘Hils’. As far as he knew, he was the only one Becker had told his name to and that had only been after two months of them sleeping together. It was even wiped from his personnel record at the ARC; Connor had tried to hack the system once to find out and found just a blank line. It appeared that Becker had got in first and deleted it. He must really have opened up to Ethan if he’d told him that.

 

“Sounds like you two had a good day,” he said, quietly, letting Ethan watch the end of the film.

 

Becker smiled at him over Ethan’s head. “We did, and let’s just say that we understand each other a bit better now.”

 

Over their take-out pizza dinner, Danny told them about his lunch with David Pearson, one of his old friends from the Met. It had been a chance to catch up on gossip about his former colleagues more than anything.

 

Becker started to clear the dishes away when they were finished but found himself face to face with Ethan, the other man blocking his path.

 

“They can wait,” he said, taking the plates from Becker’s hands and depositing them in the sink. “But I don’t want to. I want you to finish what you started in the park.”

 

Becker had to admit that Ethan’s argument had merit. The other man pressed him back against the counter and kissed him, first in a mirror of the almost-chaste kiss they’d had in the park. Becker took control then, kissing him as he’d really wanted to earlier.

 

“I had fun today,” he told Ethan. “It was nice to just spend time with you.”

 

Ethan smiled. “You know, there’s still another five hours of today left for us to enjoy.” He took Becker’s hand and led him upstairs, leaving Danny to go and make sure that the house was locked for the night. “Let’s have an early night.”

 

Now that sounded like the perfect end to the day, Becker thought as he stripped, dumping his clothes on the floor. He barely had time to stand up again before he had an armful of naked Ethan, the other man pressing close as he kissed him. Becker had to smile at Ethan’s enthusiasm; the man’s hands were everywhere, touching and teasing, needy sounds coming from his lips and being swallowed up in the kiss.

 

Becker stumbled slightly as Ethan’s weight leaned against him and pulled back.

 

“Bed,” he said, giving Ethan a gentle push that had him landing on the mattress with a surprised look on his face.

 

Reaching out a hand he tugged Becker down with him, pouncing on him once more. He kept Becker pinned beneath him as he shuffled down the bed.

 

“Oh fuck.” Becker felt the swipe of Ethan’s warm, wet tongue across the head of his cock. Raising his head he saw Ethan’s grin moments before he ducked forward again, engulfing Becker’s cock completely.

 

Becker’s fingers curled into the sheets he lay on as Ethan’s talented mouth sucked and teased, driving him to distraction but never going far enough to give him what he wanted.

 

“I see you’ve started without me.”

 

Becker turned to see Danny standing in the doorway, leaning against the frame and watching them with a smile on his face. Ethan let Becker’s cock slip from between his lips as he looked up.

 

“By all means, carry on,” Danny told them. “It was just getting interesting.”

 

Ethan laughed. “Perv.”

 

“Yeah, and you love it,” Danny fired back.

 

Becker held out his hand in invitation but Danny shook his head. “I think I’ll stay here and enjoy the show for a while,” he said, unfastening his jeans and slipping his hand inside.

 

Ethan and Becker shared a look; so that was Danny’s plan. He liked to watch them as they played.

 

“What do you want us to do?” Ethan asked, stretching his body out alongside Becker’s and resting his cheek against Becker’s chest. “Tell us, Danny.”

 

“Fuck him,” Danny told his brother. “I want to watch you fucking Becker’s tight little arse.”

 

Ethan smiled, reaching into the cabinet next to the bed for the lube as Becker looked to Danny again.

 

“Get naked, Quinn.”

 

Danny obliged, stripping quickly and adding to the assorted clothing abandoned on the floor. His hand around his cock, Danny watched as Ethan’s slicked fingers slid in and out of Becker’s body, opening him up.

 

“Do it now, Ethan. He’s ready.”

 

 Both men looked up as Ethan eased inside Becker, meeting Danny’s gaze.

 

“Okay, now fuck him. Nice and hard. That’s right; just like that.”

 

Ethan did as he was told, as he wanted to anyway, and took Becker hard. When he glanced at his brother he saw Danny’s hand wrapped around his hard cock, his hand moving though his eyes never left the two men on the bed. He hooked his hands under Becker’s legs, opening him up even more, going deeper with each thrust.

 

He jumped slightly when he felt the cool press of lube-slicked fingers pressing into his arse, stilling as he looked over his shoulder to Danny.

 

“Just do it, please Danny.”

 

 

Danny pulled his fingers back and, moments later, Ethan felt the thick head of this brother’s cock pushing slowly inside him. The action made him move inside Becker again, causing the other man’s grip on Ethan’s forearms to tighten. Once Danny was all the way inside him, Ethan started to move again, caught between pushing back onto Danny’s cock and fucking Becker.   

 

 

It wasn’t long before the three of them landed in a messy, sated heap on the bed in a tangle of limbs. Ethan lay sprawled across Becker’s body, his chin tucked into the crook of Becker’s neck, Danny’s arms around them both from where he lay curled around Ethan.

 

\----------

 

The following day, the three men sat at a table in the staff room enjoying a lull in anomaly activity. Suddenly the door was swung open forcefully and they all looked up as Jess came storming in, stopping at their table.

 

“And here I was thinking you were a nice guy but I guess I was wrong,” Jess snapped at Becker, glaring at him with her arms folded across her chest and a furious look on her face. “Slimy bastard.”

 

The room’s only other two occupants, two lab techs, grabbed their mugs of tea and made a hasty retreat, not wanting to get involved in whatever was wrong. Especially since very few people could speak to Becker like that and get away with it. Becker and Ethan got to their feet, Becker to try and placate her for whatever she was ranting about whereas he was sure that Ethan just wanted to get a better view of the proceedings.

 

“Jessica, what are you talking about?”

 

“As if you don’t know.” At his frown, she waved her arm in Ethan’s direction. “You, sneaking around with him; I thought that you were with Danny. I saw you, in the park. You know, I thought that maybe I was wrong so I went to your house last night and I saw you...”

 

“You were watching us?!”

 

Jess shook her head. “I came to talk to you but I got to the door and I could see through the kitchen window- I didn’t mean to!”

 

Ethan smiled, the look on his face saying that he found Jess rather amusing, but she noticed and rounded on him instead. Becker sighed. This wasn’t going to end well; Ethan had calmed down a lot, but he still wouldn’t put up with her yelling insults at him.

 

“Jess, have a seat,” Danny told her, closing the staff room door and locking it so that they wouldn’t be interrupted. “You really have got this all wrong. Now, would you like a cup of tea?”

 

Danny’s demeanour took the wind out of her sails and she sat down in the chair at the opposite side of their table, as far away from Ethan as she could get, accepting the mug of tea when Danny returned with it. He passed mugs out to the others as well before sitting down next to Ethan.

 

“Now, before you launch into another round of insults toward Becker, you should know that he’s done nothing wrong,” Danny told her.

 

“But I saw them. I take my neighbour’s dog for a walk at weekends if she’s working and I was in the park. I saw them kissing. And then again at the house.”

 

“I know.”

 

He shared a look with the others, Becker nodding his head in agreement. Ethan just shrugged his shoulders; he didn’t really care one way or the other. Becker and Danny had the most to lose when all this came out. Everyone already had it in for him and so one more thing wouldn’t make a difference.

 

“I am well aware that Becker is involved with Ethan,” Danny said. “We both are.”

 

Jess just looked at him, puzzled, until it finally clicked into place. The expression on her face would have been comical under any other circumstances, her eyes widening. She coughed around the mouthful of tea she’d just taken and set her mug down on the table.

 

“What? But he- I mean, Ethan is-”

 

“Now do you see why we wanted to keep this quiet?” Danny asked. “I know Ethan’s my brother-”

 

Jess shook her head. “I was going to say that he’s a bloody psychopath who tried to blow me and Becker up! He shot Becker for goodness’ sake,” she said. “But thanks for putting that thought into my head!”

 

Ethan folded his arms across his chest, lips pressed tightly together as he listened to her, and Becker could see that he was just one more remark away from telling her exactly what he thought of her. Unfortunately, Jess wasn’t finished.

 

“He murdered people, or have you forgotten that?” she asked Becker. “I can’t believe that you’d stoop so low as to sleep with someone like him. He’s a total nutcase.”

 

She scrambled to her feet and backed away quickly as Ethan stood, stopping when her back hit the wall. He rounded the table and advanced on her, cornering her, his face only inches from hers as he leaned an arm on the wall next to her head to stop her escaping.

 

“You better watch what you say to me, girl,” he told her in a low voice. “I could snap your scrawny little neck like a twig.”

 

Jess’s hands went up to her throat as she shrank back from him. He smiled, looking pleased with himself.

 

“I think you’re just pissed off that you can’t have Becker. That’s right, I know all about your pathetic little crush but you know what? He’s mine now,” he said, the wicked smile widening. “But you’re still hoping, aren’t you? Well, I wouldn’t bother. He’s been fucking me for weeks but I bet he hasn’t even given you a second thought.”

 

“Ethan, that’s enough. Leave her alone.”

 

He reluctantly went to Becker, still glaring daggers at Jess.

 

“Can you give us a minute?” Becker asked. “I need to talk to Jess.”

 

Danny and Ethan left the staff room. They didn’t go far, both hesitating just outside and occasionally casting concerned glances through the small window. Becker ignored them as, right now, Jess was his problem. She was visibly shaking and almost in tears; it was the same look he’d seen on her face when the Dracorex had been loose in the ARC and heading for her desk. When he tried to give her a hug she pushed him away.

 

“What are you doing with him, Becker? He’s dangerous.”

 

 

He shook his head, indicating for her to sit down again and taking the chair next to her. “No, he’s not.”  

 

 

She looked up at him in disbelief. “Did you miss what happened in there?”

 

Ethan had gone too far but it wasn’t right to lay all the blame for this at his feet. She had just kept on poking at him until he reacted; it was like jabbing a Rottweiler with a sharp stick and then getting upset when it finally fought back.

 

“No, and I didn’t miss the fact that you were baiting him, either. Quite frankly, our personal situation is none of your business but you barged in, throwing insults around. What did you expect?” He sighed. “This is all my fault. I shouldn’t have kissed Ethan, then you wouldn’t have seen us and this whole thing would never have happened. I just got tired of hiding him.”

 

For a while they sat in silence until Jess finally spoke.

 

“You’re right; it isn’t any of my business,” she told him. “But you’re my friend and I was worried, not only about the two of you going behind Danny’s back but also about you. After everything he’s done, I didn’t want to see you get hurt.”

 

Becker smiled. “Believe me, I’ve already thought of every worst case scenario at least twice and, at present, the only thing likely to be a problem is other people’s reactions. I’m flattered that you’re concerned but you don’t need to be. He’s changed. Even I didn’t believe it at first, but he has.”

 

Jess still didn’t look completely convinced but she nodded. “You really like him, don’t you?”

 

“Yes, I do.” He glanced down at the table, embarrassed to be admitting it. He didn’t talk about shit like this, especially not to colleagues, female ones, who had been flirting with him for the past year. “None of this was planned but then Danny and Ethan approached me and despite the problems I knew it would cause, I didn’t _want_ to turn them down.”

 

“I still can’t get my head around that,” she told him. “Danny and Ethan. Are they really together, like properly together? Don’t you find it weird or just a bit creepy?”

 

Becker shook his head. “I did find it strange to begin with, but like Danny said, the brother he knew has gone; Ethan is a totally different person now.”

 

It was another half an hour before Jess left, giving the other two men a half-hearted apology as she passed in the doorway on her way out. Ethan had, when prompted, offered the same grudging commiserations and while it was clear that the two of them were never going to be friends, at least they weren’t still sniping at each other. Becker leaned his head in his hands, elbows resting on the table, and heaved a sigh of relief.

 

She didn’t intend to tell anyone else, she’d said, and he believed her, but it hadn’t been the easiest of conversations. Why couldn’t anything be simple? All he wanted was to be left alone but they had to keep poking about in his private life.

 

“Hils, I’m sorry,” Danny said as he came back into the staff room, Ethan closing the door as he followed. “We never meant to fuck up your life like this.”

 

Becker gripped their hands on top of the table as they both sat. “I should be thanking you for doing just that,” he told them. “I wouldn’t want to go back to how it was before. I had no one; I came home every night to an empty flat to watch crappy TV shows on my own. It was miserable.”

 

“You’ve got friends, and you must have had dates,” Danny said, but Becker shook his head.

 

“Once or twice but it never went beyond a few drinks,” he told Danny, refusing to meet Danny’s eyes as he added, “I kept comparing them to you.”

 

Feeling Ethan pull away slightly as though trying not to intrude, Becker held on to his hand, speaking directly to him. “I know that it hasn’t been that long, but I care about you. Both of you.”

 

Ethan studied him for a moment in that quiet, contemplative way. “You really mean that, don’t you?”

 

Becker smiled at him. “Yes.”

 

“I heard some of what you said earlier,” Ethan told him. “You defended me to her.”

 

“Of course I did.”

 

“People usually don’t,” Ethan pointed out. “No one except Danny.”

 

“Well, now you’ve got me as well.”

 

\----------

 

In the safety of the house that night, with the curtains closed against nosy colleagues, the three of them sat together in the living room, watching CSI. Ethan’s choice; he’d won the earlier argument with Danny over what to watch. Danny was sitting on a cushion on the floor, between Becker’s knees, Ethan sprawling along the sofa with his head resting against Becker’s shoulder.

 

“I’ve been thinking,” Danny began, leaning his head back to look at Becker. “You’ve got some holiday time coming up, Hils, so I thought that we could have a holiday. Just get a way for a while.”

 

“Anywhere in particular?”

 

Danny shook his head. “Just someplace where no one knows us, where we can go out and not have to watch over our shoulders all of the time.”

 

Becker had to admit that sounded like a great idea. If no one knew them then the risk of the team seeing him and Ethan and it undermining his authority with them, or seeing Danny and Ethan together and working out exactly what the brothers’ relationship was, would be gone.  

 

“Can we go somewhere with a beach?” Ethan asked. “I haven’t seen a beach since I was a kid. You remember, Danny? Mum and Dad took us to Blackpool. It was just before…”

 

 _Just before you went into that old house and disappeared,_ Danny finished silently. Neither of them said it, though.

 

“I think the beach sounds like a great idea,” Becker told him. “We’ll fill out the holiday requests and give them to Lester tomorrow.”

 

His time off was already booked, and he doubted that there would be any objections to Danny taking some too. As for Ethan, he got the feeling that Lester would be happier not having to deal with him without Becker and Danny around for a couple of weeks. That, and the fact that he didn’t actually work at the ARC. No one could quite decide what Ethan was- prisoner, guest, consultant or, in Lester’s words, a pain in the arse.

 

Becker looked at the huge smile on Ethan’s face and couldn’t keep the one from his own as they all went back to watching TV.

 

Tomorrow, he’d go and pick up some travel brochures.

 

 

\------

End.

 

 

 

  


End file.
